INDUSTRY

SolarFlare Communications Inc., a developer of high-performance semiconductor products for physical-layer connectivity, has created a demonstrable, complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS)-based transceiver that is capable of sustained 10 gigabits-per-second (Gbps) operation over industry-standard Category 5e (Cat5e) copper cable. Cat5e is the cable type most frequently used to interconnect computers, switches, and routers in Ethernet networks. "Today's 10Gbps Ethernet links are implemented with either very expensive optical-fiber transceivers or with cumbersome, short-reach, twinax coaxial cables," said Ron Cates, SolarFlare's vice president of marketing. "The advent of a transceiver capable of operation over the installed base of Cat5e cable defies industry 'experts' who claimed it couldn't be done and promises to dramatically lower the costs of 10Gbps Ethernet deployment and increase its utilization in enterprise computing networks and data centers." SolarFlare's transceiver uses industry-standard CMOS fabrication technology and proprietary signal-processing algorithms that improve data recovery and mitigate noise in copper wires so that they can support higher data rates. The transceiver is designed to operate over Cat5e, Cat6, or Cat7 cables with lengths up to 100 meters.